"The Catch"

I haven't been blogging recently because my free time has been wrapped up in a family music project, which ends up with me burning a ton of CDs.

Today, as I was rooting around the house looking for an empty shoebox to carry said CDs, I found this in my basement:

I made this model back in the mid-1960s (I think it may have been a birthday gift from my parents). I haven't seen it for years, but I did refer to it back in March 2010 in this blog post. (Willie has become unglued, and needs help from a rubberband to pose for this photo op.)

 SAY HEY!
.

RIP - Grady Hatton

Former major-league 3rd baseman and manager Grady Hatton passed away on April 11, 2013 at age 90.

With no prior minor-league experience, Hatton became the the regular 3rd baseman for the Reds from 1946-50.  In 1954 he was traded twice, and finished his playing career in 1960 with the Cubs.

Hatton managed in the Astros' system from 1963-65, then took over the Astros' helm from 1966 to mid-1968. He later became a scout.

MLB obit

Houston-area obit

.

1964 Topps Giant Cards

.
Here are my first cards from the 1964 "Giant" set issued by Topps. These cards measure 5 1/4" by 3 1/8".

I bought these a few weeks ago, while visiting an antique store with Mrs. Jim from Downingtown. (This was the same store where I bought the Mickey Mantle Day button a few months back.)

The store had about a dozen of these cards, but I only bought three: the two Colt .45s cards, and Rocky Colavito - because I had never seen him in an Athletics' uniform. (It seems weird to see an Athletics' player NOT in green and gold. I have several of those old red-and-white Athletics in my 1963 card collection.)

Anyway, with my entrance into another insert/oddball set, I felt compelled to add a per-year count of the non-base cards in my Card Census section on the sidebars of my 1963-70 blogs.

The next time I go to that store, I'll probably get the rest - even Ron Hunt!
.

Baseball-Reference.com

Over the years, the Baseball-Reference.com site has been an invaluable reference source, not only for players' major and minor league statistics, but for team-and-year information such as defensive line-ups and batting orders for each game, transactions, minor-league affiliations, and many others.

A few years ago, I also discovered a Retrosheet link at the bottom of each player's page. There, one can find out the player's statistics for each game played, including whether or not he started, and what position was played (including PH and PR).

One of the features I like on the Baseball-Reference home page is the group of player thumbnails (sample below). I like to guess who the players are, before hovering my mouse pointer over them to get the names. (I usually have no shot at the older black-and-white photos, but can name many of the late-1960s players on sight.)

I saved this grouping a few months ago, in anticipation of a post like this one today.

Top row: Mike McCormick, unknown, Johnny Callison, unknown, Ken Boyer (or is it Curt Simmons?), unknown.

Bottom row: Johnny Romano, unknown, unknown, unknown (maybe Dick Radatz?), Bill Monbouquette, John Roseboro.


Surprisingly, I've noticed that there are never any players from the 1970s and beyond included in the photo grids.
.

Oh, Brother!

Here are some of the brothers who played ball in the 1960s.

The only 3-brother combo in the 1960s was Felipe, Matty, and Jesus Alou, who all came up with the Giants before scattering elsewhere. Jesus made his major-league debut in a September call-up in 1963, Felipe's last season in San Fran. With someone named Willie Mays on hand, chances for an all-Alou outfield were slim, but they managed to all play together one time.

Hank and Tommie Aaron hit more home runs than any other brother duo, with 768 (755 by Hank).

The Boyers cornered the 3rd base market in New York City in 1966. The brothers were 3rd base counterparts in the 1964 World Series, when Ken was with the Cardinals.

The Brothers Perry were star pitchers for their respective teams. Jim played primarily with the Indians and Twins, and won the AL Cy Young award in 1970, winning 24 games. Gaylord played 22 seasons, the first half of his career with the Giants, before bouncing around to a number of teams. He was a 5-time 20-game winner. The brothers were teammates on the 1974-75 Indians.

Phil and Joe Niekro were both knuckleballers, Phil played for 4 teams over 24 seasons (1964-87), the first 20 seasons with the Braves. Joe played for 7 teams over 22 seasons (1967-88). They were teammates on the 1973-74 Braves, and the 1985 Yankees.

Frank and Joe Torre both began their careers with the Milwaukee Braves, and although they were both on the big club in 1960, and in the Braves' farm system for some of the same years, they were never teammates.

Lee May played 18 seasons, with Cincinnati, Houston, Baltimore, and the KC Royals. Younger brother Carlos played primarily for the White Sox. They were never teammates.

Just kidding! For over 40 years, I thought these two were brothers, before one of you bloggers set me straight a few years ago.


Other brother combos in the 1960s were Tony and Billy Conigliaro,  Dick and Hank Allen, Dick and Larry Brown, and Billy and Bobby Klaus.
.

RIP - Fred Whitfield, Tony Pierce

.
1960s' major-leaguers Fred Whitfield and Tony Pierce passed away last week.

Fred Whitfield passed away on January 31, 2013 at age 75. He was a 9-year veteran, playing 1st base for the Cardinals (1962), Indians (1963-67), Reds (1968-69), and Expos (1970), and was the Tribe's regular 1st-sacker from 1963 until early 1967.

Obituary


Former Athletics' pitcher Tony Pierce passed away on January 31, 2013 at age 67. He pitched for the Kansas City Athletics in 1966-67, but an arm injury ended his career prematurely.

He had a long career as a youth baseball coach in Columbus, Georgia. Many of his players attended the funeral, where they signed his white-with-red-baseball-seams casket.

Obituary

and...

. 

1960s Blog Hall of Fame

.
The balloting for the 1960s Hall of Fame closed yesterday, with only Carl Yastrzemski and Al Kaline receiving enough votes for election. Both players were added to the ballot this time.

They join these 19 already in the Hall:

17 ballots were cast, with Yaz selected on all but one ballot (94%). Kaline started off slow, with only 40% of the vote, but made a steady comeback to finish with 76% of the vote.

Dick Allen was the only other candidate who was above 75% after 5 ballots, maintaining 80% of the votes through the first 10 ballots, then receiving little support the rest of the way, to finish with 59%.

None of the returning candidates from last time received enough votes. 1950s/1960s pitching stars Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, and Jim Bunning received 65%, 59%, and 35% respectively. Rod Carew jumped from 19% last time to 47%, while Ron Santo plummeted from 58% down to 29%. Other returning candidates with similar results as last time were Orlando Cepeda, Roger Maris, Maury Wills, and Joe Torre.

Besides the 2 inductees, other newly-added candidates were Eddie Mathews and Billy Williams (both with 59%), and pitchers Jim Kaat and Sam McDowell, who each failed to get 15% of the vote, and will be dropped from the ballot.

.

RIP - Chuck Hinton

These notices are coming all too frequently....


1960s' outfielder Chuck Hinton passed away on January 27, 2013 at age 78 from Parkinson's disease.

Hinton played outfield for the Washington Senators (1961-64), the Cleveland Indians (1965-71), and the California Angels (1968).

After his playing career, Hinton was the head baseball coach at Howard University for 28 years. One of his players there was ex-Phillies' and Cardinals' outfielder Milt Thompson.

In 1982, Hinton was the founder of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.

Washington Post obituary

MLB.com obituary

and a lengthy tribute from The Hardball Times

 

RIP - Ed Bouchee

Former big-league first baseman Ed Bouchee passed away on January 23, 2013 at age 79 in Phoenix, AZ, of complications from diabetes.

Bouchee was drafted into the military near the end of the Korean War, and missed 2 seasons of baseball. He played for the Phillies (1956-60) and Cubs (1960-61), before finishing his career with the expansion Mets in 1962.

He finished 2nd in the 1957 NL Rookie of the Year voting to his teammate, pitcher Jack Sanford.

After his career, he settled in the Chicago area and worked in the auto parts industry.

Obituary


 

RIP - Fred Talbot

Fred Talbot, who pitched for five teams in the 1960s, passed away on January 11, 2013 at age 71. He was pre-deceased by his wife and his son, Fred Talbot III.

Obituary

Although I had already collected Talbot's '67 and '68 Yankees cards, I became more aware of him after reading Jim Bouton's book Ball Four in 1971. I recall that Talbot was somewhat of a nemesis for Bouton, although Bouton speaks well of Talbot in his guest book entry at the above obituary link.

Talbot had an 8-year major-league career (1963-70) with the White Sox, Kansas City Athletics, Yankees, Seattle Pilots, and Oakland Athletics.

From a White Sox blog

From NBC Sports

And some funny recollections of Talbot, Bouton, etc from readers of Ball Four
.

RIP - Earl Weaver

Hall of Fame Orioles' manager Earl Weaver passed away early this morning of a heart attack at age 82. He was taking part in an Orioles' fantasy cruise in the Caribbean.

Obituary

Weaver never played major-league ball, but played in the minors from 1948-1960, with the Cardinals, Pirates, and Orioles.

He began his managing career as a player-manager from 1956-59, then became a full-time manager in the Orioles' chain in 1961. Weaver took over the Orioles' managing post from Hank Bauer in game #83 of the 1968 season, and stayed on through the 1982 season. The Orioles won the AL pennant in each of Weaver's first 3 full seasons, and won the World Series in 1970. He also won the AL crown in 1979.

After broadcasting the 1983 World Series (where the Orioles beat the Phillies), Weaver returned as O's skipper for 1985 and 1986, before retiring.

His #4 was retired by the Orioles in 1982, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

RIP - Jim Cosman

Former Cardinals' pitcher Jim Cosman passed away on January 7, 2013 at age 69. He had been battling Alzheimer's disease for a decade.

Cosman pitched in the minors from 1963-71 (mostly for the Cardinals) and appeared with St. Louis for 11 games in 1966-67, and 1 game for the Cubs in 1970.

After baseball, he worked in the waste management industry, working his way up from driver to executive, and was the CEO of Republic Services until his retirement in 2000.

Obituary

Baseball story

See also

Blog entry by Wrigley Wax
 

3rd (Semi) Annual 1960s Blog Hall of Fame

 

Time for the 1960s Blog Hall of Fame election again. Here's where we've been so far.

I'm getting the jump on the MLB Hall of Fame this time. Below are the nominees for election to the 1960s Blog Hall of Fame.

Ten players receiving between 15% and 74% of the vote on the last ballot have been carried over. Another six players were added to the ballot.

Holdovers:

Dick Allen (3B/1B)
Jim Bunning (P)
Rod Carew (2B)
Orlando Cepeda (1B/OF)
Whitey Ford (P)
Roger Maris (OF)
Ron Santo (3B)
Warren Spahn (P)
Joe Torre (C)
Maury Wills (SS)


New to the ballot:

Jim Kaat (P)
Al Kaline (OF)
Eddie Mathews (3B)
Sam McDowell (P)
Billy Williams (OF)
Carl Yastrzemski (OF)

Vote for no more than 8 players. 75% of the vote is needed for election.

Goodbye to 2012

National League baseball in Houston began in 1962. After 51 seasons, it ended this year, as the Astros were shuttled to the American League, courtesy of the weasel occupying the commissioner's office:

After 29 years in the American League, Selig moved his Brewers to the National League, so that each league would have an even number of teams, thereby avoiding daily inter-league play. He was quoted as saying "The Brewers BELONG in the National League. Milwaukee is a National League city." (I suppose he based that statement on the THIRTEEN seasons the Braves played there.)

Now, after FIFTY-ONE seasons, that logic apparently doesn't apply to the Astros. The Brewers changed leagues to solve the inter-league play problem. Now that that doesn't seem to be a problem any more, the Brewers should shift back.


In 2012, we also bid farewell to these players from the 1960s:

Also leaving us in 2012 (although not a 1960s' player) was "The Kid":

RIP - Jimmy Stewart

Former Cubs and Reds utility infielder Jimmy Stewart passed away on November 24, 2012 at age 73.

Stewart began his career with the Cubs in 1963, playing every infield and outfield position for 4 seasons, then moved across town to the White Sox in 1967.

After 3 seasons as a super-sub with the Reds, Stewart went to the Astros in the Joe Morgan trade, where he played his final 2 seasons.

After his playing career, he was a scout for the Reds.

Obituary and extended story from a Cincinnati newspaper